Pataudi Palace, a 1930s landmark south of Gurugram, remains in family hands

A large dome modelled on the Sanchi Stupa rises above Ibrahim Kothi, the Pataudi family residence in a village surrounded by farmland south of Gurugram.

Built in the 1930s for Iftikhar Ali Khan Pataudi, the seventh Nawab of Pataudi, the two-storey palace stands in a 10-acre garden with neem trees and bougainvillea. Its fluted columns, pillared verandas, high-ceilinged rooms, parquet floors and pink Venetian chandeliers bring together European neoclassical and Art Deco influences with Indian floral motifs.

The palace was commissioned ahead of Iftikhar Ali Khan’s planned marriage to a princess from Bhopal. Architect Robert Tor Russell, also associated with Connaught Place in New Delhi, designed the building.

Ibrahim Kothi was later home to Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi, known as Tiger Pataudi. It was leased to Neemrana Hotels in 2005, before Saif Ali Khan bought it back in 2014 and returned it to private family ownership. The estate is associated with Sharmila Tagore, Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor Khan.